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SCOOP: House Republicans praise Trump’s policy wins: “never seen a president hit the ground running with as much energy as what he’s done”

  • January 20, 2026
  • Matthew Foldi

President Donald Trump deserves no less than an “A” to an “A+” for what eight House Republicans told the Washington Reporter has been a historic first year, singling out the administration’s wins on everything from border security to foreign policy. 

“To give him an A+ or a 5.0 on a 4.0 scale might sound ridiculous, but I’ve been here for a long time and I’ve never seen a president hit the ground running with as much energy as what he’s done,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) told the Reporter in an interview. 

Multiple lawmakers cited Trump’s success in keeping his promises. “He’s a man who means what he says and says what he means,” Rep. John McGuire (R., Va.) said. “Every president in my lifetime said they want peace in the Middle East, he got two deals done. He moved our embassy to Jerusalem. Biden said we need legislation to secure the border, but that was wrong; we just needed a new president. Americans are safer, murder rates are down, we’re recovering from the damage of NAFTA, hope for the future is up, and we’re creating peace. I give him a high grade.”

“I’d give him an A+,” Rep. Pat Harrigan (R., N.C.) said. “I had to think about an A or an A+, but he has done everything he said he was going to do and more.” Both Reps. Kevin Hern (R., Okla.), the House Republicans’ Policy Committee Chairman, and Rep. Mark Alford (R., Mo.), gave Trump an A+.

Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R., Texas), told the Reporter that Trump and House Republicans have work they can improve on as they head into the midterms. “I’d give him an A,” she said. “Not an A+, because I think we can all do a better job of communicating a strong Republican message, and sometimes I think we trip over our own feet. But he’s been able to get bills across the floor that people thought we could never pass. Look at his trade deals. Some folks are having difficulty seeing the forest through the trees on these trade deals.”

Finally, Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R., Iowa) and Rudy Yakym (R., Ind.) gave Trump an A.

  • Tags: 2026, Beth Van Duyne, Darrell Issa, Donald Trump, foreign policy, John McGuire, Kevin Hern, Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Mark Alford, Pat Harrigan, Rudy Yakym
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